[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S549-S552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Betsy DeVos

  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I come to the floor to announce a very 
difficult decision that I have made; that is, to vote against the 
confirmation of Betsy DeVos to be our Nation's next Secretary of 
Education. This is not a decision that I have made lightly. I have a 
great deal of respect for Mrs. DeVos. I believe she is a good person. I 
know she cares deeply about the children of this Nation. But for the 
reasons that I will explain, I simply cannot support her confirmation.
  Later today, the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed to the DeVos 
nomination. I will vote to proceed to the nomination because I believe 
that Presidents are entitled to considerable deference for the 
selection of Cabinet members, regardless of which political party is in 
power, and that each and every Senator should have the right to cast 
his or her vote on nominees for the Cabinet. That is why, during 
President Obama's administration, I voted for procedural motions, 
including cloture, to allow the President's nominees for Secretary of 
Defense and for Secretary of Labor to receive up-or-down votes by the 
full Senate, even though I ultimately voted against those two nominees 
on the Senate floor. At the time, I stated that it is appropriate for 
every Senator to have an opportunity to vote for or against an 
individual Cabinet member, and I still believe that is the right 
approach.
  Let me again make clear what I said at the beginning of my remarks, 
which explains why this has been a decision that I have not made 
lightly. I know that Mrs. DeVos cares deeply about children. I 
recognize that she has devoted much time and resources to try to 
improve the education of at-risk children in cities whose public 
schools have failed them. I commend her for those efforts.
  I wrote to Mrs. DeVos, seeking her assurances in writing that she 
would not support any Federal legislation mandating that States adopt 
vouchers nor would she condition Federal funding on the presence of 
voucher programs in States. She has provided that commitment, and I ask 
unanimous consent that the exchange of correspondence with Mrs. DeVos 
be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my statement.
  Nevertheless, like all of us, Mrs. DeVos is the product of her 
experience. She appears to view education through the lens of her 
experience in promoting alternatives to public education in Detroit and 
other cities where she has, no doubt, done valuable work. Her 
concentration on charter schools and vouchers, however, raises the 
question about whether she fully appreciates that the Secretary of 
Education's primary focus must be on helping States and communities, 
parents, teachers, school board members, and administrators strengthen 
our public schools.
  While it is unrealistic and unfair to expect a nominee to know the 
details

[[Page S550]]

of all the programs under the jurisdiction of the Department of 
Education, I am troubled and surprised by Mrs. DeVos's apparent lack of 
familiarity with the landmark 1975 law, the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act--known as the IDEA--that guarantees a free 
and appropriate education to children with special needs.
  The mission of the Department of Education is broad, but supporting 
public education is at its core. I am concerned that Mrs. DeVos's lack 
of experience with public schools will make it difficult for her to 
fully understand, identify, and assist with those challenges, 
particularly for our rural schools in States like Maine.
  In keeping with my past practice, I will vote today to proceed to 
debate on Mrs. DeVos's nomination. But I will not, I cannot, vote to 
confirm her as our Nation's next Secretary of Education.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                 Washington, DC, January 24, 2017.
     Mrs. Betsy DeVos,
     Education Secretary-Designate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mrs. DeVos: I am writing to follow up on the questions 
     posed to you in your confirmation hearing regarding your 
     position on school vouchers should you be confirmed as 
     Secretary of Education. I have concerns about the impact of 
     such a voucher program, especially on rural school districts 
     with limited budgets and numbers of students.
       The needs of public schools in Maine are very different 
     from those in large urban areas, where some schools have 
     failed our children. The majority of Maine's schools and 
     school districts are small and rural, and the constraints on 
     resources and the realities of distance greatly influence the 
     policies and practices for delivering high-quality education 
     in those settings. The concern I hear in Maine from teachers, 
     administrators, and parents is that school vouchers will 
     divert scarce resources from public schools.
       During my time as a U.S. Senator, I have visited more than 
     200 schools in Maine. At each visit, I have seen repeatedly 
     the skilled and dedicated teachers, administrators, and staff 
     working closely with parents to deliver the best possible 
     education for their students. Likewise, I have spoken with 
     students who are vibrant members of their communities and 
     excited about learning. Our public schools have a tremendous 
     impact on students and communities, and the U.S. Department 
     of Education is an important partner in fulfilling the 
     promise of high-quality public education for all students.
       Please respond in writing to the following question: Would 
     you oppose a federal mandate that would require states to 
     adopt private school vouchers? I ask that you respond prior 
     to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
     Committee mark-up on January 31.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Susan M. Collins,
     United States Senator.
                                  ____

                                                 January 25, 2017.
     Hon. Susan Collins,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Collins: Thank you for the opportunity to 
     answer your question about my position on federal education 
     mandates regarding private school vouchers.
       As a strong proponent of local control, I believe the 
     decision of whether to provide vouchers, scholarships, or 
     other public support for students who choose to attend a 
     nonpublic school should not be mandated by the federal 
     government. Rather, this is a state and school district 
     matter.
       The Every Student Succeeds Act made great strides in 
     returning control over education decisions to states and 
     local communities, and I applaud your efforts in passing that 
     important law. Decisions about whether to provide parental 
     choice will vary from state to state and district to 
     district, reflecting local needs.
       As I stated during my confirmation hearing before the U.S. 
     Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on 
     January 17, while I am a strong supporter of school choice, I 
     am also respectful of state and local decisions on this 
     issue. Therefore, if confirmed, I will not impose a school 
     choice program on any state or school district.
       Senator Collins, I look forward to working with you to 
     support Maine's teachers, schools and districts as they work 
     to provide a high quality education to every student.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Betsy DeVos.

  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak on the 
upcoming motion to proceed to the DeVos nomination for a period of 5 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I would like to share my thoughts with 
my colleagues today about the President's nominee to be Secretary of 
Education. I shared many of these thoughts yesterday with my colleagues 
on the Senate HELP Committee.
  Like my colleague from Maine, this nomination has been a very 
difficult one for me. It has been very personal. As I mentioned in 
committee, I take very personally the education of the children in my 
State. I take very personally the contributions that our educators, our 
administrators in the schools--all that they provide and the importance 
that we should all place on the education of America's children.
  I don't think it is an overstatement to say that I have struggled 
with how I will cast my vote on the nomination of Mrs. DeVos. Again, I 
take very personally the success of Alaska's schools and the success of 
Alaska's schoolchildren. We have a lot of schools in Alaska, as we all 
do around the country. My schools, I would challenge you all, are a 
little bit more diverse than perhaps in other parts of America just 
because of our geography. We are isolated. Eighty-two percent of the 
communities are not attached by a road. The communities are small. The 
schools are smaller.
  In our urban centers, what some find unusual is we have more 
diversity in our populations than most people could understand or even 
imagine. One of the neighborhoods in my hometown of Anchorage hosts the 
most ethnically diverse schools in the United States of America. So I 
have urban schools that have rich diversity, and I have very rural, 
very remote, extremely remote schools that face challenges when it 
comes to how we deliver education. So knowing that we have the 
strongest public school system is a priority for me.
  I have spent considerable time one-on-one with Mrs. DeVos before and 
after the committee hearing. I spent the entirety of the Senate HELP 
Committee listening carefully to the questions that colleagues put to 
her. Afterward, I reviewed not only her written responses to me but 
those that she had responded to other colleagues. I requested further 
that she provide certain commitments in writing. After speaking with 
her at length and considering everything that I have learned, I have 
the following comments to share:
  First, I must state that I absolutely believe Betsy DeVos cares 
deeply for all children. I think we all acknowledge that she could have 
spent her time, her energy, and her considerable resources on almost 
anything else that she chose to do. I admire her for choosing to help 
children to access a better education because she could have chosen to 
do many other things, but she chose to work for children, and I 
appreciate that.
  Now, as Senators, we are in the position to provide advice and 
consent on the President's nominee. My view has been--and has been 
since I came to the U.S. Senate--that under almost all circumstances, a 
President has the right to have their nominees considered and to 
receive a full vote by the entire Senate.
  So I have gone back, and I have looked at how I, as a Senator, have 
handled confirmations under President Bush and President Obama. When 
cloture votes have been called on Cabinet nominees, my practice has 
been to vote aye. I voted aye twice for Secretary of Defense Hagel. I 
voted aye for Secretary of Labor Perez, even though I voted against his 
confirmation in the final vote.
  So, Mrs. DeVos.
  She has answered thousands of questions that have been put to her. 
Neither the Office of Government Ethics, the Senate HELP Committee, nor 
I have found any substantive reason to question Mrs. DeVos's name or 
reputation, but yet I have heard from thousands--truly thousands of 
Alaskans who share their concerns about Mrs. DeVos as Secretary of 
Education. They

[[Page S551]]

have contacted me by phone, by email, in person, and their concerns 
center--as mine do--on Mrs. DeVos's lack of experience with public 
education and the lack of knowledge she portrayed in her confirmation 
hearing.
  Alaskans are not satisfied that she would uphold Federal civil rights 
laws in schools that receive Federal funds. They question her 
commitment to students with disabilities' rights under IDEA. They fear 
that the voucher programs that are intended to serve them may actually 
rob them of the opportunity to benefit from an education in an 
inclusive environment with their nondisabled peers.
  After 8 years of the micromanagement that we have seen from this 
previous administration, quite honestly, they are very concerned that 
Mrs. DeVos will force vouchers on Alaska. Now, she has said that she 
has not. She has committed publicly and to me personally that she will 
not seek to impose vouchers on our States. She has committed to 
implementing Federal education laws as they are written and intended, 
and this is a welcome departure from what we had seen with the two 
previous Secretaries of Education.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for an 
additional 1\1/2\ minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Mr. President.
  She has committed that the focus she will give, not only to Alaska 
but to all States will not undermine, erode, or ignore public schools 
and that she will, in fact, work to support our public schools. She has 
committed to me that she will come to Alaska in order to learn from 
Alaska's educators, our parents, school board members, and our tribal 
representatives to see for herself the challenges we face.
  I still continue to have concerns. I think Mrs. DeVos has much to 
learn about our Nation's public schools, how they work and the 
challenges they face.
  I have serious concerns about a nominee to be Secretary of Education 
who has been so involved in one side of the equation--so immersed in 
the push for vouchers--that she may be unaware of what actually is 
successful within the public schools and also what is broken and how to 
fix them.
  Betsy DeVos must show us that she truly understands the children of 
Alaska and across America, both urban and rural, who are not able to 
access an alternative choice in education, as in so many of my 
communities. She must show us that she will work to help the struggling 
public schools that strive to educate children whose parents are unable 
to drive them across town to get to a better school. That she will not 
ignore the homeless students whose main worry is finding somewhere safe 
to sleep and for whom their public school is truly a refuge. And that 
she will fight for the children whose parents don't even know how to 
navigate these educational options.
  I believe that my colleagues here in the Senate and the many, many 
they represent have the right to debate these questions, to air their 
thoughts and concerns and perspectives about this nomination, and again 
I believe that any President has the right to expect that we do so.
  I conclude my remarks to make clear that my colleagues know firmly 
that I do not intend to vote, on final passage, to support Mrs. DeVos 
to be Secretary of Education. I thank the chairman of the committee for 
working with me and with my colleagues on this matter, but I cannot 
support this nominee.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 5 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I come to the floor to thank the 
Senator from Alaska and the Senator from Maine for this reason: They 
are following a long and venerable tradition in the United States 
Senate that too many Senators do not follow. They are allowing--despite 
their final view on the substance of an issue--the full Senate to make 
a decision on an important issue.
  It used to be that a motion to proceed to an issue was routine. It 
used to be that after a certain period of time, we would cut off the 
vote so we could have an up-or-down vote, 51, on an important issue.
  We have gotten away from that, but Senator Collins and Senator 
Murkowski have been among the most consistent Senators who would say, 
absent extraordinary circumstances, ``I am going to vote to allow the 
vote to come to the floor so the full Senate can make its decision,'' 
and I thank them for that.
  Madam President, as to Mrs. DeVos, I ask unanimous consent to have 
printed in the Record, following my remarks, an article about why the 
Senate should promptly confirm Betsy DeVos as U.S. Education Secretary, 
which I believe it will do so.
  Mrs. DeVos will be an excellent Education Secretary. She has 
commitment to public education. She has said that. There is no better 
example of that than her work on the most important reform of public 
schools in the last 30 years, which is charter schools.
  Charter public schools are the fastest growing form of public 
education to give teachers more freedom and parents more choices, and 
she has been at the forefront of that public school activity. Second, 
she has spent her time truly helping to give low-income parents more 
choices and better schools for their children, but is that a reason not 
to support her? I would be surprised if any President supported an 
Education Secretary who didn't support charter schools. I would be 
surprised if a Republican President nominated an Education Secretary 
who didn't believe in school choice.
  What I especially like about Mrs. DeVos is that she believes in the 
local school board, instead of the national school board. She has made 
it clear that there will be no mandates from Washington to adopt Common 
Core in Arkansas or Tennessee if she is the Education Secretary, there 
will be no mandate in Washington to evaluate teachers in Washington 
State this way or that way if she is the Secretary, and there will be 
no mandate from Washington to have vouchers in Maine or Alaska if she 
is the Secretary.
  She believes in the bill we passed in December of 2015, with 85 
votes, that restores to States and classroom teachers and local school 
boards the responsibility for making decisions about standards, about 
tests, about how to help improve schools, about how to evaluate 
teachers. That passed because people were so sick and tired of 
Washington telling local schools so much about what to do.
  She will be that kind of Education Secretary. She will be an 
excellent Education Secretary. The two Senators have followed a 
venerable and honorable tradition in the Senate by saying they will 
vote to allow the full Senate to consider her nomination, and when we 
do, I am confident she will be confirmed.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows: [Jan. 24, 2017]

               Senate Should Promptly Confirm Betsy DeVos

                       (By Sen. Lamar Alexander)

       Democrats desperately are searching for a valid reason to 
     oppose Betsy DeVos for U.S. Education Secretary because they 
     don't want Americans to know the real reason for their 
     opposition.
       That real reason? She has spent more than three decades 
     helping children from low-income families choose a better 
     school. Specifically, Democrats resent her support for 
     allowing tax dollars to follow children to schools their low-
     income parents' choose--although wealthy families choose 
     their children's schools every day.
       Tax dollars supporting school choice is hardly subversive 
     or new. In 2016, $121 billion in federal Pell Grants and new 
     student loans followed 11 million college students to 
     accredited public, private or religious schools of their 
     choice, whether Notre Dame, Yeshiva, the University of 
     Tennessee or Nashville's auto diesel college. These aid 
     payments are, according to Webster's--``vouchers''--exactly 
     the same form of payments that Mrs. DeVos supports for 
     schools.
       America's experience with education vouchers began in 1944 
     with the GI Bill. As veterans returned from World War II, 
     federal tax dollars followed them to the college of their 
     choice.
       Why, then, is an idea that helped produce the Greatest 
     Generation and the world's best colleges such a dangerous 
     idea for our children?
       Mrs. DeVos testified that she opposes Washington, D.C., 
     requiring states to adopt vouchers, unlike her critics who 
     delight in a

[[Page S552]]

     National School Board imposing their mandates on states, for 
     example, Common Core academic standards.
       So, who is in the mainstream here? The GI Bill, Pell 
     Grants, student loans, both Presidents Bush, President Trump, 
     the 25 states that allow parents to choose among public and 
     private schools, Congress with its passage of the Washington, 
     D.C. voucher program, 45 U.S. senators who voted in 2015 to 
     allow states to use existing federal dollars for vouchers, 
     Betsy DeVos--or her senate critics?
       The second reason Democrats oppose Mrs. DeVos is that she 
     supports charter schools--public schools with fewer 
     government and union rules so that teachers have more freedom 
     to teach and parents have more freedom to choose the schools. 
     In 1992, Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor party created a 
     dozen charter schools. Today there are 6,800 in 43 states and 
     the District of Columbia. President Obama's last Education 
     Secretary was a charter school founder. Again, who is in the 
     mainstream? Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, 
     Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama; the last six U.S. 
     Education Secretaries, the U.S. Congress, 43 states and the 
     District of Columbia, Betsy DeVos--or her senate critics?
       Her critics dislike that she is wealthy. Would they be 
     happier if she had spent her money denying children from low-
     income families choices of schools?
       Mrs. DeVos' senate opponents are grasping for straws. We 
     didn't have time to question her, they say, even though she 
     met with each one of them in their offices, and her hearing 
     lasted nearly an hour and a half longer than either of 
     President Obama's education secretaries.
       Now she is answering 837 written follow up questions from 
     Democratic committee members--1,397 if you include all the 
     questions within a question. By comparison, Republicans asked 
     President Obama's first education secretary 53 written 
     follow-up questions and his second education secretary 56 
     written follow-up questions, including questions within a 
     question. In other words, Democrats have asked Mrs. DeVos 25 
     times as many follow-up questions as Republicans asked of 
     either of President Obama's education secretaries.
       Finally, Democrats are throwing around conflict of interest 
     accusations. But Betsy DeVos has signed an agreement with the 
     independent Office of Government Ethics to divest, within 90 
     days of her confirmation, possible conflicts of interest 
     identified by the ethics office, as every cabinet secretary 
     is required to do. That agreement is on the internet.
       Tax returns? Federal law does not require disclosure of tax 
     returns for cabinet members, or for U.S. Senators. Both 
     cabinet members and senators are already required to publish 
     extensive disclosures of their holdings, income and debts. 
     Cabinet members must also sign an agreement with the Office 
     of Government Ethics to eliminate potential conflicts of 
     interest.
       One year ago, because I believe presidents should have 
     their cabinet in place in order to govern, I worked to 
     confirm promptly President Obama's nomination of John King to 
     be Education Secretary, even though I disagreed with him.
       Even though they disagree with her, Democrats should also 
     promptly confirm Betsy DeVos. Few Americans have done as much 
     to help low-income students have a choice of better schools. 
     She is on the side of our children. Her critics may resent 
     that, but this says more about them than it does about her.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.